Site Search Navigation

Site Navigation

Site Mobile Navigation

Huffington Post Introduces Its Online Magazine

By Christine Haughney June 12, 2012 6:33 pmJune 12, 2012 6:33 pm

The cover of the premiere issue of a weekly digital newsmagazine called Huffington.

The Huffington Post, which has methodically spread its wings from juicy gossip about Salma Hayek’s cleavage and pointed political commentary to a Pulitzer Prize-winning 10-part series on wounded veterans, is breaking into the magazine business.

On Thursday, the company will introduce a weekly digital newsmagazine called Huffington, which will be available only through the Apple Store. Timothy L. O’Brien, a former editor at The New York Times who is running the magazine, introduced the first issue to a group of reporters on Tuesday afternoon. He said the magazine had 24 editorial staff members and would pull content from reporting staff at The Huffington Post but the content would be new and separate from that of the rest of the site.

Huffington will include a mix of short newsy items and three long-form pieces that will run 4,000 to 8,000 words every issue. The first issue, which is sponsored entirely by Toyota, will feature an article written by Peter S. Goodman on President Obama’s declining relationship with young voters. So far, there is no talk of turning the newsmagazine into a print publication.

Mr. O’Brien said that the magazine would help The Huffington Post better showcase longer-form articles than it can on its site.

“We do a lot of beautiful features that can be lost” on the site,” he said.

Huffington is being designed as what Mr. O’Brien described as “a classic sort of Sunday magazine experience.” It will be available on the Apple Store early on Friday mornings and will cost 99 cents an issue, $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year.

The Huffington Post would not reveal the budget for the magazine, or any advertisers beyond that of Toyota in the first issue. But online magazines, like the News Corporation’s The Daily, have struggled to attract ads and attention.